11. Confused
WARNING: These next two drabbles deal with sex. Non graphic, still mature subject though. If you don't like it, skip it, but I wrote three of these drabbles to explain why Dick's an only child. YEESH!
Eleven year old Dick Grayson woke up, not from a nightmare, but because he heard a noise. He lay in his bed, wondering if his parents were arguing again. They argued every once in awhile, but tonight was…different.
"John…please…I…"
Mary begged, wrapping her arms around John's neck."Shhh…
" he whispered. "We can't wake him. He needs to sleep.""I know, we won't wake him…we can keep this quiet,"
she replied, pressing her lips to his and kissed him ardently."I want to copulate with you,"
John whispered. "It'd be real nice if you got pregnant, wouldn't it?""Yeah, maybe,"
Mary smiled. "I just can't help myself, you started it.""I'm gonna finish it too,"
John nuzzled her neck.Dick heard his mother giggle, she didn't do that often. He had to wonder: what the heck made her so happy?
Dick could hear the rhythm of their breathing. It was heavy and ragged, full of need for…Thoughts ran through his head and gulped, realizing just what they were doing out there. He decided to try to go back to sleep, after all, sex was a private thing. His parents had told him about where babies came from when he'd asked after Stan the ringmaster in the circus had made a snide remark about his parents and had dropped the "F" word in the same sentence, having heard that word was a cuss word he'd told his mother, who had promptly gone out and slapped the spit out of Stan Rutledge who'd said it while inebriated and had to explain to her son what it meant and how he'd been born and so on.
He rolled over and tried to sleep. He let his eyes fall shut and forgot about it.
He woke up the next day and slipped into the living room. He found a shirt and a pair of pants on the floor. The shirt he recognized as his father's, the pants were his mother's. He noticed his father lying on the sofa. His parents' were covered in a blanket and Dick had never seen his mother's face with such a happy expression before.
"Dick, hand me those would you?" John asked.
"I'm not gonna see anything am I? Did you…sleep with Mom?"
"No, she's covered up, and yes I did sleep with her…" he smiled. "It's one of the many ways we show our love for each other."
Dick frowned handing his father the missing articles of clothing. He didn't quite understand, there were people he knew who weren't married, who did that sort of thing.
"Dad, I'm confused. Why're you and Mom any different from all those other people who have sex? I know people who aren't married, and they talk about how they've done that lots of times..."
"That's a real hard question, best ask your mother when she wakes up…she understands this stuff better than I do."
"Okay," Dick said. He'd have to wait for his answers.
1 Corinthians 7:3-4:
The husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.
12. Special
"He knows about what we did last night, huh?" Mary asked John while Dick was in the bathroom.
"He has questions too, and I felt really awkward trying to answer them, so I told him you would," John said, running his fingers through his hair.
"Okay, what's he want to know?" Mary asked.
"Why should I wait to be married to have sex?" Dick asked.
"That's the million dollar question, isn't it sweetheart," Mary said, sitting down at the table. "'Why wait when it seems that everybody else is doing it?'" Well, let me tell you, not everyone is having sex before their married. I waited until I married your father and it was the most wonderful thing I've ever experienced in my life."
"You see, honey, people want all the wonderful things that come with sex without having to worry about the consequences of it. Women are scared of getting pregnant and men are scared of raising children."
"Most of them are," John said. "Not me, I wanted to have kids."
"Why would girls be scared of having babies, Mom? You were happy to have me."
"They think a baby will get in the way of their lives, they don't want to worry about raising a child. It's very self-centered of them. Having sex before marriage is selfish. Sex is special, and people don't treat it that way anymore."
"A lot of men treat women like they're an object to be used until they get bored, then they leave them," John said. "Women are special, Dick. Always treat them that way. Sex is special too, never think of it as something you just "do with someone" or something you casually "talk about to anybody". And one day, when you're married and have a wife of your own, you'll understand."
Dick smiled, he thought he understood. It made more sense now, but it didn't seem that easy, but then again, if his parents had waited years for each other, he could wait for someone special too.
13. Thief
Takes place before "Con Men." George Grayson is from the comics, but he's retconned out of the current timeline, which is why nobody's heard of him.
"George, how could you do this to me?!" John screamed.
"Listen John, what I told you is the truth!" George Grayson, John's younger brother protested. "It's not my fault that money's gone! I lost it in the stock market!"
"You "lost" it when you gambled it away in Vegas! I found the receipts and your hotel reservation! You gambled away $1,000.00 of my hard earned money!" John grabbed his brother by his shirt and hulled him out of the Grayson trailer. John shut the door behind him.
"Mom, why is Dad beating up Uncle George?" Dick asked.
"Because Uncle George stole your father's money," Mary explained.
"Oh, Uncle George is a weenie and screams like a little girl," Dick said, watching as his father continued to pound the pulp out of him.
"Well, he should, he's a coward and a thief," Mary told him. "You shouldn't watch this. Let's get something to eat." She led her son away.
However, Dick couldn't resist one last look back. Uncle George had a black eye and a bloody nose. The thieving weenie got what he deserved, he hoped all criminals would get what they deserved. It wasn't right for his parents to lose their money. It wasn't right for anyone to lose anything.
14. Flying
They said that humans couldn't fly, but the Flying Graysons could prove them wrong in almost every way. When they were up on the trapeze bar performing you believed that they could live up to their name, they really were the Fearless Flying Graysons.
15. Chocolate Fountain
Harriet Cooper is from the comics, but she's retconned out of the current timeline, which is why nobody's heard of her.
The Graysons were attending the wedding of John's younger brother George Grayson. He'd gone off and married some girl none of the family had ever met, her name was Clara and nobody could remember her maiden name. John couldn't help but wonder if this whole "marriage" was part of some scheme his brother was trying to pull.
George walked up to his older brother and slapped him on the back, acting as if he hadn't been pounded to a pulp by John six months earlier.
John hadn't been on good terms with George after that and was surprised when he received an invitation to his brother's wedding.
"So glad you could make it!" George laughed. "With your busy schedule, I'm surprised you're here."
"Well, I suppose I had to come, you being family and all," John said, mumbling out the other side of his mouth, "although I don't really want to be here and I think you're planning something."
George didn't hear him, but Mary did.
"John, it's your brother's wedding! Cut him a little slack for once!" she whispered as George left to greet other wedding guests.
"'Cut him some slack'? Lest you forget, honey, he stole $1,000.00 from us. I'm not cutting him some slack. Even if it's his wedding day."
"I know that, just don't say anything more about it," Mary said. What's done was done and there was no way they were ever going to get that money back from her brother-in-law.
"I just want to get out of here, they cut the cake and threw the bouquet and the garter already so let's go," John huffed.
"Fine, fine," Mary sighed. "We can go. Wait, where's Dick?"
"There's my sister, Harriet, maybe she knows where he is," John said. Harriet Grayson Cooper was John's older sister and adored her nephew and sister-in-law.
"Harriet, have you seen Dick?" John asked.
"Your sweet son? Yes, last I saw him he was by the chocolate fountain," Harriet said, pointing at their son who had his head down and was practically drinking chocolate out of the fountain.
"Dick, you're not a bull elephant, get your head out of there!" John called out.
"Do as you're told Dick. I'm not going to let you get cavities from eating too much chocolate," Mary added.
"Mom, you were a dental assistant, so you can fix my teeth," Dick shouted.
"Oh, no I'm not. I got tired of sticking my fingers in other people's mouths and I'm not about to start with yours!"
"Come on, son. Let's go," John said. Dick slowly walked over.
They turned and left the building.
"Next time there's a wedding in this family, we're leaving you in the trailer," Mary said. Dick looked a little sad.
"She's joking, honey," John added, mouthing, "you're not serious are you?"
"If there's a chocolate fountain in there I'll never get him out," Mary tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't. She laughed.
"At least he had fun, honey. At least he had fun," John chuckled with her. It was good to be back at their trailer. Dick smiled, he had had a good time. They made their way inside. If he ever did get married, he was definitely going to get one of those fountains, just to drive his parents crazy.
When Starfire told him she was leaving for Tamaran to get married, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. There wouldn't be any chocolate fountains, and it wouldn't be a fun wedding, but the worst part of it was, the girl he loved wasn't marrying him.
16. Sad
Takes place after "Special" but before "Thief" and "Chocolate Fountain".
Dick had walked into his parents' room to ask them if he could go visit Sitka the elephant, he'd finished his homework and chores and was ready to go have some fun with the animals.
Mary and John were sitting on her bed, his arms around her waist and whispering soothing words that he couldn't hear into her ear. Dick had never seen his mother so sad before, except when her father had died. What was going on?
"Mom, Dad, is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, sweetheart, nothing's wrong," Mary lied. It wasn't something he should worry about.
"Are you sure?" he looked at her. She didn't look alright to him.
"Yes, now I have...some stuff to do," Mary quickly got up and went with John into the living room.
Dick was curious. There was something they weren't telling him. What was it? He decided to find out and started snooping around their room. No notes or letters were there saying something bad had happened, so it had to be something else. He went into the bathroom right down from the hall form their room. He looked around, there wasn't anything in there.
Then he saw it. In the trashcan. He pulled it out, it was a pregnancy test. He also found the box with the instructions on it. He read them and stared at the pregnancy test. It was blue.
Dick shook his head. No wonder she was sad.
"It'd be real nice if you got pregnant, wouldn't it?"
He remembered what he'd heard his father say. Mom had always talked about having more kids. He had always liked the idea of having a sibling. He knew his parents had tried for years, but every time it seemed that nothing would come of all their efforts.
He put the pregnancy test back in the trash.
He walked out into the kitchen and saw his mother cooking, or rather, pantomiming the actions of cooking.
"Mom..." he began.
"Yes, Dick?" she turned to him, setting down the spoon in her hand.
"I found that test thing, in the trash, and...I'm sorry," he said. She just looked at him.
She turned and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him.
"This isn't something you should have to worry about, sweetheart," Mary said, trying to keep her emotions under control. Her son was wise beyond his eleven years and it startled her sometimes.
"I know, but when you get so sad, it makes me sad too," he hugged her.
"Don't feel sad for me, Little Robin. You carry enough problems with homework and our routines. Don't feel you have to carry mine."
John walked in. He mouthed, "What's wrong?"
She responded, mouthing, "He knows about the pregnancy test."
"How'd he find it?" John asked.
"It was in the bathroom trashcan," Dick said. "If you're going to hide stuff from me, you better find a better spot."
"I always knew he was brilliant, now if only he'd apply his brilliant mind to his arithmetic book..." John and Mary laughed.
Dick smiled too. If he had one wish, he would wish that his parents would always be happy, and that they wouldn't ever be sad again. At least he knew one thing, he could always make his mother smile, and he never wanted to see her sad again.
17. Over-Reaching
"Dick, how could you be so stupid?!" John berated his nine-year-old son. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Dick had over-reached in a practice session, he's missed the trapeze bars during his part of the routine and had fallen into the safety net below. Horrific images flashed through John's mind of situations where there might not be a safety net. His worst fear was for his only son to fall to his death during their routine.
Dick was in tears. He didn't like being yelled at. He had tried to explain that it was an acciddent. He thought he'd be able to make it to the bar on the other side but had misjudged the distance.
"You always said…we've gotta keep reaching…'cause that's the only way we can grow!"
Mary wrapped her arms around him, giving him comfort. He didn't understand that a mistake like that during thier performance would kill him. He needed to stay within his limits, while at the same time, testing them so he could learn and grow from experience, but that didn't mean he should try to do something without thinking.
"What your father meant," Mary explained, "was only that you should make absolutely sure of your abilities, Richard. Keep reaching…but when you reach, know what you're reaching for. Be sure of yourself—and you can never reach too far."
"Listen to your mother, Richard. She knows what I mean—even if I don't."
Years later, Dick stood inside the evidence room of Titans Tower, exaimining all the information he had on the mysterious man Slade. He would find out what he was planning and stop his next scheme. He wasn't over-reaching himself this time. He was sure of his abilities and he would do everything in his power to stop Slade from taking over the city. Robin finished the final touches on his "Red X" costume. He was sure that this plan was going to draw Slade out in the open. Then, the Titans would stop him. There was work to do. He slipped out of the Tower. It was time to put his plan into effect.
18. Clem
Clem is the circus term for a fight.
"Hey look, there's Grayson," Pani called. "I tried to get him to fight me yesterday, but he was too chicken."
Dick stopped, hesitated for a second, then turned around. He pulled aerial stunts fifty feet off the ground without a net. Nobody called him a chicken.
"Yesterday, I was too busy," Dick snarled. He lunged at Pani. He landed a solid punch in Pani's jaw.
"Get him!" one of the boys shouted.
"Aw, Pani, he's gonna kill us!" another shouted.
Pani had managed to avoid another hit and got Dick into the headlock while Dick tried, unsuccessfully, to score a karate chop to the back of Pani's head.
John walked out from inside the big top and saw the boy's fighting. He decided to break it up, they were wasting time when they should be working. Besides, they had to practice for the show that night.
"All right you scappers! Break it up! We've got work to do," John said sternly. All the boy's except for Dick scattered to their chores.
John ruffled his son's hair. At least Dick didn't stand to be insulted. He'd heard the other boy's try to pick a fight with him the previous day. All that energy, he'd work it out of his system in practice, but if he didn't they could always finish this.
"If you're still feeling restless after the show, maybe you and me can take it up with the Townies," John smiled. Hopefully, Dick would learn to pick his fights when he was older, but for now, he was just standing up for himself. He'd learn that he couldn't fight everyone's battles, but he could fight for himself.
Father and son walked back into the big top. It was time to practice for their show again.
19. Soothing
His Mother's voice had always soothed him. When the bad dreams would come and he'd wake up scared, he'd call for her and she'd come running to him.
She told him, "It's okay, little Robin. It's just a bad dream, it didn't really happen."
Many times, as a young child, he told her, "I'm not going back to sleep. I don't want the bad dreams to come back."
"Shh, Dickie, shh," Mary soothed. "Just lie back down and close your eyes. There son..."
She began to sing softly, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."
She looked down at him. There he was, sound asleep. She kissed his forehead and tucked him in. He'd wake up feeling better tomorrow.
Years later, on a very, very bad night of vicious beating and pain and fear, Robin lay his head down and softly sang the song that had always eased his fears. Since his mother wasn't there to sing it to him, he'd have to sing it himself.
"In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me. When I awake my poor heart pains. So when you come back and make me happy
I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame..." Dick sighed, closing his eyes. After hours and hours of seeing hallucinations and a near death experience, his mother's favorite lullaby was all the more comforting. Her voice had always soothed him and it was those memories of her that helped him get to sleep that awful night.
20. Imagination
Dick had always had a vivid imagination as a child. He would often dream of far off places and all the super heroes he was reading about in the papers. He devoured stories of Batman and Superman and was in awe of their exploits.
"Come on son, you have to do your chores," Mary told him.
"Mom, do you think the stories are true, or do you think someone just made them up?" he asked.
"I don't know, son. It does see far out there that a man could fly faster than a speeding bullet or that Batman can disappear, but I think the stories are true."
"What makes you say that?" Dick inquired curiously.
"Well, I doubt even your wild, vivid imagination could conjure up an alien that could fly, shoot lasers out his eyes or pick up buildings and cars."
Dick laughed. "Are you saying I use my imagination too much?"
"No, you just need to learn to not let it run away from you," she smiled. "Now off you go to your chores. They're not going to get done on their own."
With a vivid imagination like his, she thought her son might leave the circus altogether and become a best selling novelist, or he might try something crazy and emulate the heroes he read so much about. She smiled, putting the paper away. At least he was reading, it was better than wasting time in front of the television anyway.
Robin kept telling them that he wasn't just imagining things. Slade wasn't just in his imagination. He could hear him, feel the painful blows he inflicted, he could see him. That in itself proved that it wasn't just his imagination. But when he realized the truth that it was a hallucination. He had to wonder if he'd let his vivid, wild imagination rear its head again. He lay on his bed, staring at the portrait of his parents he had taken from Wayne Manor.
"Well Mom, I guess I really messed this one up. I let my imagination run away from me, and I hurt my friends too. How am I supposed to make up for that?" he asked the picture. He knew that the picture would never answer him. He sighed.
Little did he know that his Mother stood with him in his very room and she had felt his distress from Heaven. She had asked God if she could come down to him just for a little while, just to see him."Don't worry, little Robin, they understand. It wasn't that your imagination ran away with you, it's just you believed in what you saw and dismissed your imagination completely," She ran her non corporeal fingers through his hair.
"Go to sleep, Robin, and let your wild, vivid imagination remember us, and how much we love you." Dick thought he heard her voice inside his head, and listened intently to her words. He sang himself a lullaby and drifted off to sleep, letting his imagination wander back to the good old days, when his parents would smile and laugh when they were with him. His imagination could always take him back there, and that wasn't going to change.
